(The Missing Library)

 

"If nothing is happening in your community library, it's not a library."

– Institute of Museum and Library Services

Dumbo Arts Center’s current exhibition is (The Missing Library). This summer, artist Annie Shaw has invited five artists (Jen Kennedy & Liz Linden, Marie Lorenz, Michelle Rosenberg and Angie Waller), an architect (Lori Brown) and two librarians (A.G. Graham and web-specialist Nate Hill) to turn DAC into a civic, non-commercial public space in the form of the Dumbo neighborhood’s first library. The project encourages contemplation on how libraries’ function, physical space, and role within communities is changing as the content libraries have traditionally housed migrates to a digital form.

(The Missing Library), staying true to the intellectual artifacts housed and espoused by any traditional library, offers more to the audience than a static display of art. The pieces, many conceptual in nature, ask for the viewer’s participation, appreciation and consideration of the various materials (be they literature, maps, films or scavenger hunt clues) included in the exhibit.

The exhibition is designed to not only engage the audience but the Dumbo community, a trademark of Annie Shaw. To get the community involved in the discussion, (The Missing Library) includes a series of special events over the course of the exhibition as well as a Friday film series, The Movie Librarians Film Screening with A.G. Graham. Part of DAC’s gallery will serve as a cinema during regular gallery hours but A.G. Graham’s handpicked features---movies portraying different librarians in film---will play every Friday at 4pm.

Below is the full schedule of (The Missing Library)’s free events and featured films:

Weekly Movie Schedule:

JUNE 23 PARTY GIRL, dir. Daisy von Scherler Mayer. 1995 

JUNE 24 THE BREAKFAST CLUB, dir. John Hughes. 1985 

JULY 1 ZARDOZ, dir. John Boorman. 1974 

JULY 8 THE NAME OF ROSE, dir. Jean-Jacques Annaud. 1986 

JULY 15 THE MUMMY, dir. Stephen Sommers. 1999 

JULY 22 GHOSTBUSTERS, dir. Ivan Reitman. 1984 

JULY 29 DESK SET, dir. Walter Lang. 1957 

AUGUST 5 THE BIG SLEEP, dir. Howard Hawks. 1946 

AUGUST 12 STORM CENTER, dir. Daniel Taradash, 1956

Other Upcoming FREE Events at (The Missing Library):

Thursday, June 30: 3-6pm The Unknown Shore / The Shore Unknown, office hours with Angie Waller & 7 pm The Tide and Current Workshop with Marie Lorenz

Thursday, July 7: 7 pm Lori Brown on Matilda Joslyn Gage Library & Nate Hill on DUMBO Library  

Saturday, July 30: 3 pm "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?" a discussion with Jen Kennedy & Liz Linden on Linda Nochlin’s seminal essay  

Thursday August 4: 7 pm Family Feud, game night with Angie Waller

Secret Garden pARTy 2 Tweet Auction!

 DAC's 1st Ever Tweet Auction for our 2nd Secret Garden pARTy

Get your hands on 2 tickets to the silent art auction and indoor garden party at Dumbo Arts Center on Thursday, June 16th.  

Tweet Auction Rules: A virtual auction for tickets to a real one, Dumbo Arts Center’s Tweet Auction gives you the chance to get into our Secret Garden pARTy 2 by bidding, not cash, but tweets. 

To the person with the most DAC-related, #DACSecretGardenParty-hashtag-baring tweets by 11 am Wednesday, June 15^th (a.k.a. the highest bidder) goes 2 tickets to our silent auction/benefit party the following evening. 

Mention @DumboArtsCenter to place your bid and then tweet away! Tell your followers about the Secret Garden pARTy, the artists auctioning work, how much you love DAC, or how excited you are to walk on real grass INDOORS!  

Bidding starts at 3 tweets and increases by increments of 1. Any DAC related tweet qualifies but you MUST include #DACSecretGardenParty for it to count towards your official tweet tally. Winners will be announced on Wednesday, June 15^th at Noon. (Check your @Mentions!) 

Check Dumbo Arts Center’s Twitter, Facebook, and back here on the blog for info on the artists featured in the auction and the surprises instore for the Secret Garden pARTy 2 on Thursday, June 16^th.

Win:

1^st place= 2 tickets (worth $110) to DAC’s Secret Garden PARTy 2: a silent auction and party to benefit Dumbo Arts Center.

2^nd place= “AmenBitch” brass chain necklace

3^rd place= a DAC t-shirt 

Let the tweeting auction begin!

Secret Garden Party II Sneak Peak 1

Claes Oldenburg, Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks, 1969

Photolithograph printed on two sides, 34 1/16 x 22"

We're thrilled to have this photolithograph of the plans for the installation of Oldenburg's monumental lipstick sculpture- installed at the height of the pop art movement in collaboration with a group from the Yale School of Architecture, Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks, which was constructed of cheap, mass-produced materials such as plywood and balloon vinyl, commented in both materiality and concept on American consumerism. 

This unique print is a glimpse into the structural side of Oldenburg's monumental objects, whose intensity is often overlooked due to conceptual merit. In addition to the pictured front side, the print also has a back side of arranged text and articles from press releases and statements published by the "Colossal Keepsake Corporation of Connecticut," the group whose radical stance of monuments and politicization of forms manifested itself in Oldenburg's work. 

Be sure to get tickets to Secret Garden Party II on June 16th, from 6-10 for the opportunity to bid on this print as well as a plethora of others. Keep checking to blog for more sneak peeks!

-Hannah, DAC Intern

Secret Garden pARTy

DAC Presents:

Who: DAC

What: Secret Garden Party II

When: Thursday, June 16^th, 6-10 PM

Where: 111 Front Street, Suite 212, Brooklyn, NY

Why: Benefit auction for DAC

DAC’s “Secret Garden Party II” is a sequel to last year’s successful fundraiser. We will have a relaxed, pleasurable garden-themed environment (with real grass!) for guests to enjoy wine or cocktails, music, audio-scapes and a surprise or two! Admission to this event is $50 in advance or $55 at the door.

Art will be sold as part of the evening-long silent auction featuring many great artists who you may have seen at DAC events and exhibitions in the past:

John Baldessari, Lea Bertucci, Todd Bourret, Alexander Calder, Scott Calhoun, Heather Cantrell, Sean Capone, Dawn Chase, Diana Cooper, Zoe Crosher, Megan Cump, Karl Erickson, Coleen Fitzgibbon, Jess Fuller, Becky Howland, Ryan Humphrey, Wade Kavanaugh, Keith Mayerson, Russell Nachman, Jill Newman, Stephen B. Nguyen, Laurie Nye, Tom Otterness, John Ensor Parker, Mac Premo, Larry Rivers, Peter Rostovsky, John Spinks, Janos Stone and more to come!

This is a great opportunity to start building your art collection, or maybe just add some stellar work to your preexisting one. But regardless of whether you’re a seasoned art auction veteran, or still a gallery greenhorn, you’ll be able to admire your art with pride knowing that the money used to purchase it will help foster new and innovative art and artists in the Brooklyn area and beyond.

Dumbo Arts Center is committed to be a place where artists produce ambitious new work and explore new ways of interacting with the public. Further we provide lifelong training opportunities for artists of all levels. We also produce large public events such as video_dumbo, a key component of the Dumbo Arts Festival. As a small not-for-profit, we rely on the generosity of our community to support our many programs for artists and public. Your support is greatly appreciated, and will enable DAC to bring even more new and interesting events to the area.

We’re confident that we can match the success of last year’s Secret Garden Party, but we can only do so with your generous help. We sincerely hope you’ll join us for a relaxing night of art, music, and drinks. And please, tell your friends!